As we ease into 2025, we’re setting our sights on the voices shaping the worlds of travel, culture and cuisine. Where will they go, what will they discover, and which destinations are poised to make their mark in the months ahead?
For sustainability expert Lilian Liu, this year is about rooting herself. A seasoned advocate for ethical business and environmental responsibility – having worked with major global companies and the UN – Liu has spent years championing meaningful change. When we caught up over a call, she had just returned to her base in New York, a city she now calls home. But her story stretches beyond its skyline: born in Sweden, with Chinese heritage, Liu’s perspective on place, belonging and the way we move through the world is as layered as the cities she navigates.
With a shift from far-flung adventures to a more intentional way of travelling, she reflects on what it means to reconnect – with places, with people, and with the self.
I think it’s a matter of life and death to be able to travel. I truly believe that we grow as humans. Travel should be allowed, and we should be able to do it. But we need to think about how we do it. There’s one side focused on the climate itself – you know, how are you getting there? What mode of transport are you taking? Are you leaving an impact when it comes to waste? – but the other side is how you act as a traveller, how you behave when you come to a place and be respectful of the community that you find yourself in.
Are you going there to take a snapshot of the thing that everyone is looking at on social media, or are you truly allowing yourself to meet people, connect with people and – rather than be a tourist – be a traveller? That’s the other side of ethical tourism: I would like to not be a part of something where I go to a place and I only see what I’m supposed to see and I perpetuate that. We should be keeping in mind our environmental footprint, and then consider how we should show up as travellers.
For sustainability expert Lilian Liu, this year is about rooting herself. A seasoned advocate for ethical business and environmental responsibility – having worked with major global companies and the UN – Liu has spent years championing meaningful change. When we caught up over a call, she had just returned to her base in New York, a city she now calls home. But her story stretches beyond its skyline: born in Sweden, with Chinese heritage, Liu’s perspective on place, belonging and the way we move through the world is as layered as the cities she navigates.
With a shift from far-flung adventures to a more intentional way of travelling, she reflects on what it means to reconnect – with places, with people, and with the self.
With climate disasters becoming ever more frequent, questions are looming around the ethics of travel. How do you think we should approach exploring the world in 2025?
Originally, when you asked me where I wanted to go this year [before the interview], I said I wanted to go to Mongolia. But I’ve changed my mind. I don’t know if I want to go to Mongolia and I don’t think I’m going to. That was the exotic answer, where I would love to go, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.I think it’s a matter of life and death to be able to travel. I truly believe that we grow as humans. Travel should be allowed, and we should be able to do it. But we need to think about how we do it. There’s one side focused on the climate itself – you know, how are you getting there? What mode of transport are you taking? Are you leaving an impact when it comes to waste? – but the other side is how you act as a traveller, how you behave when you come to a place and be respectful of the community that you find yourself in.
Are you going there to take a snapshot of the thing that everyone is looking at on social media, or are you truly allowing yourself to meet people, connect with people and – rather than be a tourist – be a traveller? That’s the other side of ethical tourism: I would like to not be a part of something where I go to a place and I only see what I’m supposed to see and I perpetuate that. We should be keeping in mind our environmental footprint, and then consider how we should show up as travellers.
Credit: Mariano Restrepo
This year is a complete 180. I filled my travel cup – so my travel this year is going to be about connecting and reconnecting with family and friends. I will have very intentional reasons to go somewhere. I live in New York but I’m from Sweden, so I’ll go back to Europe to see my family, and I’m going to Marseille to see friends.
So, is your 2025 about rediscovering the familiar?
I’m having two very different years. Last year was a huge travel year for me – I quit my job and travelled Africa with my husband for three months. Then we went to India for a month. It was an adventure year, exploring the unknown. I’ve travelled a lot in other regions, but not in Africa, and I felt I had so many biases that I needed to crush.This year is a complete 180. I filled my travel cup – so my travel this year is going to be about connecting and reconnecting with family and friends. I will have very intentional reasons to go somewhere. I live in New York but I’m from Sweden, so I’ll go back to Europe to see my family, and I’m going to Marseille to see friends.
Any highlights of your travels in Africa you can tell us about?
My husband and I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. It was an incredible experience. Physically, it’s really hard – we took it slow over seven days – but it was incredible. The landscape is stunning and you’re in a group with a guide, so you find this new family of other adventurers. I didn’t know if we’d make it but we did and there’s something to the accomplishment of being on top of the world, beside a glacier, after you’ve walked all night and you’re delirious.If you had a word for 2025, what would it be?
Last year was all new, and this year is intention and reconnection. And exploring local. Take Sweden: I feel like there are still so many places I haven’t been. This year, I’m going to Malmo for the first time in my life. I’m in my 30s – how have I not been there? I’m looking at what’s around me with a closer eye.
Credit: Mariano Restrepo
We recently went to see some jazz at the New York Winter Jazzfest and I was reminded of how much talent and good stuff there is in the city. For example, there’s a series of apartment concerts that I’m going to – I can’t disclose the location – but it’s that kind of thing I’m hoping to explore more of.
Main photo credit: Mariano Restrepo
Will you apply that to New York, your home, too?
I was away for five or six months last year, so I feel I haven’t lived here in a while. And I’ve been here for almost 12 years, so I’m a New Yorker at this point. I want to re-explore what the city has to offer in terms of culture and music, but also you can drive to beautiful places nearby, upstate. There are also many parts along Long Island and the East Coast that are gorgeous that I have yet to discover.Any favourite places you’ll be revisiting?
I’m looking forward to visiting the many galleries the city has to offer. For museums, I really like the Guggenheim. I often go back because they have great programming and it’s not overwhelming like The Met can be. Foodwise, there are plenty of places in Chinatown that I love to go to. Dim Sum Go Go is my go-to spot for Chinese food and dumplings. It’s pretty under-the-radar, so you can always find a table. For date night, Corner Bar on the Lower East Side (the crème brûlée is incredible), or Bar Laika in my neighborhood.We recently went to see some jazz at the New York Winter Jazzfest and I was reminded of how much talent and good stuff there is in the city. For example, there’s a series of apartment concerts that I’m going to – I can’t disclose the location – but it’s that kind of thing I’m hoping to explore more of.
What do you want to take from your travels this year?
When you travel, you always learn about yourself. People think you’re learning about others, but ultimately, it’s self-engrossed. When I found myself in Rwanda last year, I learnt a lot of things about Rwanda, yes, but I also discovered what I personally feel comfortable with, and what I didn’t feel comfortable with. There are all these things that you suddenly realise about yourself – that’s what travel is about. It’s an inward experience, so I think and I hope that this year, I can continue that even if the destinations are less culturally different to me. It’s harder to do when you are in more familiar places.Main photo credit: Mariano Restrepo